Many insects, including mosquitoes, present not only a nuisance to people from their bites but also pose a threat of infectious diseases being passed to individuals in certain regions of the world. Various methods exist to combat this threat of disease transmitted by insects and these methods include large scale population control, such as spraying wide areas with pesticides using aircraft, and the use of topical repellents applied to the skin of individuals. However, in the case of individual protection against insect bites, to be effective for reasonably long periods of time, large amounts of repellents generally need to be applied directly to the skin of an individual. This may pose problems both from unpleasant odours and possible allergic skin reactions which, in turn, limits the range of possible chemicals which may be used and hence the effectiveness of the repellent.
Certain scents, such as citronella are known to act as insect repellants for insects such as mosquitoes and various devices such as citronella candles are commonly used in outdoor environments in an attempt to repel insects. However, it is common to use scents in the form, for example, of aromatherapy oils or candles for other purposes as well as insect repellents, for example to reduce stress levels in some individuals and typical scents include St John's Wort Rescue Remedy®, or aromatherapeutic scents such as lavender, chamomile, or sage.
Stress may be caused by any number of factors including high decibel-level sound which has been identified as a stress-inducing factor, as well as a health and safety risk, if an individual remains exposed to constant noise above 80 decibels. Whilst health and safety regulations encourage workers exposed to such risk to wear protective apparatus, little has been done to address the problem of noise causing stress to passers-by and in such circumstances, the passers-by would not generally have instant access or be able to use known stress-reducing devices such as aromatherapy oils or candles.
Thus, in view of the foregoing problems with conventional processes and devices, a need exists for a method and apparatus which may be used arranged to assess a user's needs and respond appropriately with the dispensing of a fluid or scent appropriate to those needs, in various situations, for example to act as insect repellent, or to reduce stress levels in individuals, or to address particular health factors in a user and which, in a preferred embodiment is portable.